#it's going to be hilarious Aka better deliver

[skania]

Can we please talk about how silly Aqua is?

There's nothing I can do about it, he says, only to literally wait for her in the dark only 4 chapters later.

Um... Aqua, how is this staying away from Akane? This is the silliest stunt Aqua has pulled in the entire series. He made such a dramatic exit out of Akane's life only to cave in... what? 4 months later?

Even assuming he was stalking Ruby and realized the girls were about to hold an audition... he could've simply waited for the girls to tell Gotanda or Kaburagi the results?

There was zero need for him to talk to Akane that night. Case in point, they don't actually discuss the audition at all! Aqua just asks if it's done and that's that lmao

Despite this, Aqua still sits his ass out in the dark and waits for them to be done. He knows what path Akane will take to go home, and he literally parks himself there and makes sure Akane will notice him. He doesn't even have the decency to hide! He stays right there in plain sight and even talks to her first!

Funniest part is that he tries to play it cool by staying on his phone, but he must have seen Akane coming! Otherwise how did he even know she was walking by behind him? 😂

He can't even come up with a excuse when Akane calls him out on it.

And then when Akane tells him that she's going to stop his plan, aka that she'll keep involving herself in his business and that she may just save him from himself after all, he makes this face!

He's giddy! He doesn't need to stalk her anymore, Akane's keeping herself a part of his life all on her own lmao

Clown behaviour. Boy really wasn't lying when he said he didn't want to let go of the days when Akane was by his side 😂

[whumpzone]

:0 Vampire Colton part 3 please??

you got it! tagging @whumpsday aka the vampire whump expert since they asked to be tagged. i bow down to them. also tagging @sordayciega @whumpycries since they expressed some interest, hope that's okay! <3

enjoy some more vampire col. CW for dehumanisation, pet whump and animal death

part 1 / part 2 /

-

“Okay, before we do anything else, let’s get you something to eat. You’ve probably not been fed in a while, right?”

The vampire hardly moved. Apparently, he was unwilling to budge from his place at Linden’s feet right now. That was okay- Linden could make it work.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

The last thing he wanted was a vampire silently following him downstairs and giving him a heart attack. And, though it made him feel guilty, he did want to at least find out if this vampire was obedient.

Linden had made sure to have blood delivered to the house well before the vampire’s arrival. Cow blood. Apparently it was similar to those freeze dried military rations that technically provided all the nutrients you needed, but tasted of absolutely nothing at best (and at worst, tasted like shit).

He’d had mixed answers when he asked if vampires could develop an addiction to a specific person’s blood. If he let the vampire feed from him, would it make him more likely to attack him, to get another fix?

The pet handlers hadn’t even let him finish before they interrupted him with a solid no, do not ever let them taste your blood.

“But why not, specifically?” Linden had pressed.

“Just don’t. You know human blood is like fucking crack to them. Crack flavoured with caviar and truffle oil and whatever other delicious shit you can come up with. It’s a luxury you can’t afford to give.”

Vik had been even less helpful.

“What, you’re gonna cut yourself? Or just flick your hair back like a shampoo ad and tell him to tuck in? Don’t be so stupid.”

Vik had snatched Linden’s phone not long after and put himself on speed dial. For if, no, when you need some hired muscle.

The cow blood slipped out of the package in a singular congealed brick. It slapped against the bottom of the bowl, bounced once and then wobbled grotesquely. Regular liquid blood was hardly appealing, but Linden felt like this would make even a vampire’s stomach turn. He supposed he was about to test that hypothesis for himself.

He put the bowl on the table with a spoon lined neatly beside it. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, where he could just about see the vampire’s hair, he called up. “I have something for you to eat, if you want to come downstairs?”

He really needed to find out if this poor pet had a name.

. . .

Pet had to obey, even though he wanted to stay curled up forever, where he could do no harm.

He wondered what he’d be given to eat, then kicked himself for actually believing that he’d be fed.

Master would probably have him chew on rocks, or glass, or silver. Something to show him exactly what’d happen to his mouth if he ever tried to use it as a weapon.

He pulled himself from the floor, heavy with resignation. He knew it had to be done. The sooner he could prove himself the better. He’d take it like a good boy.

Besides, Master was actually incorrect- Pet had eaten recently. He’d been praised for good behaviour just a few weeks ago and rewarded with a dead rat, and he’d actually shed a few tears of happiness. His handlers found all of this hilarious, and Pet was aware that somewhere in the world there were pictures of him ripping the rat to pieces with his hands and squeezing the bits of flesh through the gaps in his muzzle.

Pet could certainly smell something from downstairs, but he couldn’t speculate on how it’d be used to taunt him. He was too stupid for all that.

It was hard to crawl down the stairs, but he managed, grateful for the way it slowed him down even more. He had been promised food- even though he knew it was merely a test, he couldn’t let himself down by lunging forward, or displaying any kind of preternatural hunger.

The smell became so strong that his eyes could follow it, landing on a bowl at the kitchen table. Master was stood to one side of it- keeping a safe distance, Pet couldn’t help but notice.

“I know you’re hungry, but let’s just take this slow. I won’t take it away, I promise. I won’t do anything. Why don’t you come and sit at the table and then you can eat it however you like, and I’ll be nearby. Good?”

Pet nodded. He would be good. He did as he was told and balanced onto the chair, unused to being so far from the ground. The bowl was filled with animal blood. Lots of it, too.

He stared into the firm blood, but couldn’t see anything painful hidden within it. Couldn’t smell anything untoward, either. Glancing around, he noticed that he wasn’t in a direct sun-path, should the curtains be pulled open. His eyes fell on his owner, who had moved to stand against the kitchen counter, the table forming a barrier. Was it Master, then? Would Master do something while he was distracted?

It was useless trying to anticipate something that he couldn’t fight off, anyway. He placed a hand by his legs, steadying himself on the chair, and brought the bowl up to his face. As he licked it up, he felt… nothing. It didn’t hurt.

Pet finished the entire bowl, licking it thoroughly with his newly-freed tongue. He had been allowed to eat all of it. His stomach was actually full, for the first time in decades. He knew his body would make short work of converting it into strength.

Vampiric strength. That was wrong, surely? Master wouldn’t want to undo all the hard work the handlers had put in. Pet was wonderfully, pathetically domesticated. He could stay that way all the better if kept in the pits of starvation.

He was so confused it was making his head spin. All he could do in the present was gently put the bowl back down, licked clean, and get back down onto his knees to show his gratitude.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Sideshow Bob

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

For over thirty years now The Simpsons has provided the world with all manner of wacky shenanigans.  And when it comes to cartoons, what better way to cause shenanigans than by having a villain show up to wreak havoc? Most often the villain is the decrepit billionaire Mr. Burns, but sometimes you get a hilarious and memorable one-shot character like the affably evil Hank Scorpio. But in the middle, between being a major member of the cast and being a guest character, there is one man: Sideshow Bob.

The man with the palm tree hair and multiple attempted murders under his belt has cemented himself as one of the most iconic antagonists in television history as he seeks vengeance against Bart Simpson for thwarting his original scheme to get Krusty the clown arrested. With a little over a dozen major appearances across the history of the series and zero successes to his name, he is very much the Wile E. Coyote to Bart’s Roadrunner, and it’s typically as funny as that sounds.

But as we all know, many characters on the show have suffered the curse of flanderization, where key parts of their initial personality are magnified until that’s all they’re about, so named because fellow character Ned Flanders had his religious beliefs cranked up to 11 as time went on. The same could be said about Bob, with his desire to kill Bart overriding any sort of closure he receives at the end of every episode… But does this diminish his quality as a villain?

Motivation/Goals: Fitting for an animated sitcom, Bob’s motivations aren’t the most complex in the world. In his first appearance, he merely wanted to frame Krusty to take over his show and turn it into something more high brow, but after Bart helped thwart his schemes his new goal became to murder Bart, and that’s mainly what he’s stuck with. “Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming” and “The Day of the Jackanapes” mix things up a bit by having him target Krusty as well, but Bart dying is something that would have inevitably come to fruition if he’d succeeded.

Frankly, this just makes Bob even funnier as a character. This dude has beef with literal fucking children and despite being a genius he literally never wins. He truly is the perfect second banana to a clown, always suffering for the gag while never getting the limelight he feels he deserves.

Performance: Perhaps the single thing that makes Bob stand out is that he has always, in every appearance, been voiced by none other than Kelsey Grammer, AKA Frasier Crane from Cheers and Frasier (Or Beast from X-Men: The Last Stand). I think it’s pretty obvious he kills it as Bob, bringing just the right air of menace and class to have Bob be seen as a legitimate threat while also being able to deliver some great jokes. Also, he gets to sing quite a bit, which is always a treat.

Final Fate: Every single time he appears, Bob is inevitably thwarted and sent to jail, usually worse off than when he started the episode. There are a few unique examples where Bob gets it a bit  worse than usual; “Brother From Another Series” has Bob save the day but then get arrested anyway because Wiggum is a fucking idiot, while “Funeral for a Fiend” features him going completely insane.

Best Episode: It does not matter how much time has passed, “Cape Feare” will always remain the #1 greatest appearance of Sideshow Bob. It has it all: Movie references, musical numbers, murderous plots, and classic gags! And speaking of gags, the episode contains one of the single funniest gags Bob has ever been a part of.

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Coming in at a close second would be “Sideshow Bob Roberts,” where Bob rigs an election. The entire episode really shows just how little conservatives have changed over nearly 30 years; the episode aired on October 9, 1994, and its jabs at the right wing are as timeless as ever. It also helps that the episode is a riot, with tons of good gags. “Krusty Gets Busted,” “Black Widower,” “Brother from Another Series,” “The Day of the Jackanapes,” “The Great Louse Detective,” and “The Bob Next Door”  are all solid entries as well, and feature Bob at his most cunning, though they’re always gonna be in the shadow of “Cape Feare” (and “Sideshow Bob Roberts” to a lesser extent).

Best Quote: It’s gotta be this one, if only for the sheer absurdity of how posh Bob makes catcalling sound:

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Final Thoughts & Score: Previously I compared Bob to fellow animated antagonist Denzel Crocker, in the sense they both became increasingly flanderized and their roles began to make less and less sense as time went on with the show, with Bob’s murderous impulses never going away even when there’s plenty of reason that they should. Both “Brother From Another Series” and “Day of the Jackanapes” give pretty nice end points for Bob’s arc; the former, if they had cut out the mean-spirited ending, would have had Bob redeemed and finally given him a bit of peace, and the latter has him actually reconciling with Krusty (and getting the death penalty). But they continued to bring him back, with “The Great Louse Detective” also giving a great end point for Bob, complete with a musical number! But then he’s back for “The Italian Bob,” the worst of his appearances, which then ties into his next appearance in “Funeral for a Fiend,” which also gives us a nice stopping point. But no, he keeps coming back with the same goals each and every time: Kill Bart (or sometimes Krusty).

But the thing with Bob compared to Crocker is that while the latter shows up a lot in his series to the point he’s a main antagonist, Bob is used extremely sparingly. He has 15 major appearances over the course of The Simpsons run, with one of those being a “Treehouse of Horror” segment and some of those appearances happening several seasons apart. The lack of oversaturation helps make the flanderization sting a bit less; sure, he’s always sliding back into the same old evil routines, but he doesn’t show up enough where it becomes completely stale. Some of his later appearances end up being a bit less impressive than earlier ones, but he’s still enjoyable enough that none of his episodes are downright awful.

A lot of this is thanks to Kelsey Grammer’s voice work. He’s really a perfect fit for this egotistical, classy attempted murderer, and considering Grammer’s a decently big name thanks to Cheers and Frasier, it’s probably not without reason they use him sparingly. Still, I think what ultimately keeps Bob great compared to a lot of other cartoon villains is that he’s just such a ridiculous concept that it’s hard for him to not end up being fun whenever he appears. This is a former sidekick to a TV clown who wants to murder a small child, he has a long-standing rivalry with rakes, and he enjoys singing opera. He has stolen a nuke, stolen someone’s face, rigged an election, and attempted to assassinate a clown by hypnotizing a child and rigging him with explosives. His schemes are wacky, convoluted, and cartoonish, but Grammer’s performance will convince you that these actions are the most brilliant a criminal could conceive of.

Has Bob lost a little bit of luster over the years? Sure. But much like the show he’s part of, writing him off completely because of a few weaker showings is a bit disingenuous. Bob’s a high 9.5/10, leaning a bit more towards the 10, and maybe they’d get there if they could commit to giving him a proper ending. But hey, even if they never do, I’m not gonna complain when I hear Grammer drop a “Hello, Bart” for the fiftieth time right before Bob steps on a rake.

[hazelcephalopod]

So I’ve gotten back into reading TGH and reached chapter uh… I’ll put that later. Anyway here’s the summary—

“They go to Stedding Tsofu to find a Waygate. Waygate is firmly blocked by Machin Shin. Their journey seems for naught. But at least we get more Loial lore, and learn Ogier women just arrange the marriages and tell the men who they are marrying. Mat -full cringe failboy he sometimes(often) is- says human men would never let a woman boss them around like that. Rand mutters about Mat being wrong. Everyone else presumable at least side eyes him. Because he is wrong. Verin is right there telling everyone what to do. Rand remembers the woman’s council bacually betrothing him to Egwene before he knew what was happening. Fun times. They realize they have to use a portal stone to get to Fain. The Ogier happily show them the portal stone nearby -anything is better then the Ways. The boys keep insisting they are not ta’veren or Dragons or Aiel anything like that. Everyone nods and then ignores that and talk about them being ta’veren and how they’ve basically got no choice but to live in their wake. Rand is reminded again he can in fact channel, in fact doing so with little resistance after being asked -possibly s first? He is also unnerved meeting several Aiel women. Because they tried to kill them and also well… damn does he look like them. Aka “The ever increasing eroding of Rand denial copium receives several serious blows in a few days.”

I’m currently mid Ch 37 “What Might Be”, portal stone icon I believe.

Oh! And just for fine to cover it… Also Fain delivered that Horn, Turok was like “you’re probable lies amuse me for now. Perhaps I will give you to the Empress. Let me describe the terribleness of the royal court. Nvm you’re way too eager about that.” And Fain is just internally grinning and steepling his fingers like “ah ha. Yes give me more information. Give me more access to your leaders. You play right into the plans I have made and am making right now. And will make in the future.” Hilarious.

also…

I’ve decided that Hurin is a lil bit of a dipshit simp. Yes he has sniffing powers. And a wife. And children. But he’s a Gilear if you will. Also probably brain mushed by ta’veren a bit. Selene didn’t show up! (Good) Oh and how deeply I am not looking forward to the parts of Mat featuring “a tale of his sad little misogyny even if it often makes him look foolish. Still a bit too cringe” -at least that’s my fear. We shall see.

[cinematicct]

There’s Something About Mary (1998)

👬 🤼‍♂️-ing Over a 💁‍♀️

Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly (aka the Farrelly Brothers), this romantic comedy stars Cameron Diaz as the titular character who attracts the attention of different men played by Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, Chris Elliot and Lee Evans.

Ben Stiller plays former high school geek Ted. Matt Dillon plays private investigator Pat Healy. Chris Elliott plays Ted’s best friend Dom. Lee Evans plays Tucker/Norm Phipps. W. Earl Brown plays Mary’s intellectually disabled brother Warren. Special appearances include Keith David as Mary’s stepfather and football quarterback Brett Favre as Mary’s former boyfriend.

Ben Stiller brings a genuine sense of lovesickness to the table. He even delivers some laugh-out-loud moments as his character usually has the worst of luck. Matt Dillon’s performance as a sleazy detective is arguably the greatest of all time. Chris Elliott (aka mayor Roland Schitt on Schitt’s Creek) is ridiculously hilarious in every single way. Lee Evans is unbelievably skillful at playing a shrewd man. As for Cameron Diaz, there really is something about her that seems to mirror the admirable quality of her character.

The movie blends physical comedy with pure heart and a touch of gross-out humor. Each of those elements demonstrate the honesty and deception of falling for the same person. Ted is a meek guy who still longs to get together with his dream girl after losing contact with her in the aftermath of a disastrous prom date involving a zipper incident. Pat Healy is hired to follow Mary around, only to be fixated on her to the point where he resorts to lying to impress her. Dom gradually shows his obsessive tendencies in which his face breaks out in blistering hives. Lee Evans’ character is a normal pizza delivery guy who pretends to be disabled and assumes the identity of a British architect named Tucker to get himself closer to Mary. All those men are vying for Mary because of the way she makes them feel about themselves.

The film smartly changes the political correctness of romance into a slapstick version of love without going completely overboard. Instead of trying to reach a mutual agreement, Mary’s suitors instantly sabotage each other and go to extreme lengths to win her over. The infamous “hair gel” scene is an example of Ted falling hook, line and sinker for a harebrained scheme concocted by one of his opponents.

A particular action scene involves Ted fighting a border terrier named Puffy. It starts when Pat and Tucker/Norm team up to ruin Ted’s chances with Mary by feeding the dog some drugs that cause him to go wild. Rest assured, Ben Stiller fights back against a fake dog. The next thing you see afterwards is a crippled mutt in a body cast (again, a fake).

The soundtrack contains a collection of classic hits ranging from the late ‘60s to the ‘90s. The track list includes: “Mary’s Prayer” by Scottish pop band Danny Wilson, “Every Day Should Be a Holiday” by The Dandy Warhols, “This Is the Day” by Ivy, “Is She Really Going Out with Him” by Joe Jackson, “History Repeating” by The Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey and “Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Foundations. Singer/guitarist Jonathan Richman is shown breaking the fourth wall in between since he narrates the story through song.

Finally, even though long-lasting crushes and unrequited love are some of life’s complications, it’s better to get to know someone properly than make hasty decisions that could lead to trouble. All in all, if you’re looking for a good dose of some Farrelly goofiness, this is one I highly recommend.

[theshakespeareproject]

Thoughts on King Henry the Sixth Part II Act I

Okay, King Henry the Sixth, we’re doing this again. You really couldn’t have given us the Eighth? Guess he knew the musical Six was coming and he didn’t want to steal the spotlight, how kind of Shakespeare.

Each play begins with the Dramatis Personae, it’s a lot of names. Supposedly everyone who would be appearing in the play. Imagine my delight when one word jumped out to me: Witch. Oh yeah, I’m getting a Witch in this play. She better “Double, Double, Toil-and-Trouble” All over these pretentious British royals.

The first scene opens and one word immediately jumped out at me: Hautboys. I don’t know what Hautboys are, I just know that I agree. Unless it means something completely different then what I was thinking, then I don’t agree. Get back to me when Google exists. 

To sumamrize the first scene: Henry and Margared get married, France and England are at peace, the Duke of Gloster is unhappy about something (I think it may be because the Duke of Suffolk (aka Littlefinger) is Regent, and the Duke of York is also going to scheme for the crown, because there aren’t enough people playing this game of throne! (...wait a second)

The opening line of scene two is: “Why droops my lord, like over-ripen’d corn?” I don’t actually know what that means, I rarely see corn as it is, but it feels bad, and I love the image, even if I can’t conjure it. Speaking of conjuring, the Duchess of Gloster is here. She’s the Duke’s wife, and she is named Nell. Nell, if you see a ghost with a bent neck, run like hell please. I don’t need trauma like that again.

I don’t think I’ll need to worry though, Dame Eleanor as she is known to her friends, may be summoning ghosts, but they don’t appear to be the bent necked kind. More on ghost’s later. Instead she and her husband discuss dreams. They seem to be in sync, they both dream of power and ambition. But proto-Macbeth does what Macbeth would do and blames his wife for having the same ambition he has! Making our dear Duchess of Gloster a proto-Lady Macbeth. 

As all good Lady Macbeth’s do, she schemes anyways. Her ambition’s won’t die, and quite frankly, I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs. You go girl.

I think if the Duchess of Gloster was alive today she would be a swiftie. Or she would at least like that one song. In fact, she already has her verse ready for the the remix:

“Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood,

I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks,

And smooth my way upon their headless necks;”

If the next play isn’t Queen Eleanor the First Part I, followed by Part II and Part III, I will rage.

There’s also this one seedy fellow named John Hume, I have no idea who he is. If he was in Part I, I do not remember him. I don’t care for him, nor his playing of the Duchess of Gloster. For he is in the pocket of Big Cardinal and Big Duke of Suffolk. 

The third scene continues our slight bit of girl power, not something I was actually expecting from a Shakespear play, even though part of the reason I liked Macbeth was because of Lady Macbeth. The Queen, aided by the devilish Duke of Suffolk, accepts petitions on behalf of the King. And in the process learns of folks who view her beloved husband of like, six days, as a usurper to the throne. To the Duke of York’s throne to be exact. You can practically hear the DUN! Dun! Duhhhhhhnnnnnnnn! Playing over the revelation.

Shakespeare’s Littlefinger turns Queen Margaret into his own personal Sansa as he gives her a lesson on realpolitik, a word I heard my social studies teacher use a lot in junior year of high school and therefore I totally know what it means. 

Many Duke’s barge in, as they do with a surprising frequency, just so the Duke of Buckingham can deliver this sick burn: “All in this presence are thy betters, Warwick.” If you are from Rhode Island, this joke is fucking hilarious, and I’m allowed to say that, both my dad and my husband grew up there, and I went to school there.

At some point during this whole brigade of Duke’s conversation, the Queen smacks the Duchess. Girl on girl crime, not cool. Especially because the Duchess will remember that. Margaret, maybe consider rewinding time and trying that interaction again, no? Damn.

The conversation climaxes, not with a slap, but with chaos. The Duke of Suffolk accuses York of being a traitor, bringing the petitioner Peter as his evidence, and Thomas Horner, who is Peter’s master that made the alleged claim that King Henry is a usurper, is there for some reason to deny Peter’s claim. 

As chaos erupts it if the Duke of Gloster who steps in, he provides wisdom that is actually genuinely good. He suggests the Duke of Somerset should be regent in France, and that Peter and Thomas’s dispute can only be solved in a trial by combat. The King agrees. 

I genuinelly cannot believe this is all only in Act I of this story, and it’s still not over yet. There’s still a spirit to summon. The Witch and the Conjurer meet with the Duchess of Gloster, and together they conduct a dark ritual. They ask the Spirit questions are it gives them answers for the future. The Duke of Suffolk will die by water. The Duke of Somerset should shun castles. And the Duke of York, well, I had to write it down. “The Duke yet lives that Henry shall depose; But him outlive, and die a violent death.” I think it’s saying that Henry will defeat York, but I may be misreading that. And you know who else is going to misread it: the Duke of York! 

Yup, he barges in like the Kool-Aid man, thank’s Hume. Ruins the fun. Arrests all the cool characters. He even reads the bloody messages the Spirit gave, and then promptly ignores them. Idiot. I hope he gets what he deserves. My overall thoughts: I am definitely a lot more invested already. The characters seem to have more motivation and I’m beginning to tell the mass of testosterone-poisoned dukes apart as they all begin scheming in different ways to subvert King Henry. King Henry is still useless. But the inclusion of the Duchess of Gloster and some more appearances by Queen Margaret can only be good. As I mentioned previously, there is a lot of proto-A Song of Ice and Fire to this story, I can see it probably had a lot of influence on that story. I can’t wait to read more.

[bolllywoodhungama]

Dunki Movie Review: DUNKI bears the Rajkumar Hirani stamp of filmmaking with the right message and emotions.

Dunki Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating

DUNKI is the story of four youths trying to fly abroad for a better life. The year is 1995. Army officer Hardayal Singh Dhillon aka Hardy (Shah Rukh Khan) arrives in Laltu, Punjab to meet Mahendar, who saved his life. He reaches his house and finds out that Mahendar is no more.  Mahendar lost a golden opportunity in sports while trying to save Hardy and then passed away in an accident. Hardy takes it upon himself to help Mahendar's family. Mahendar's sister Manu (Taapsee Pannu) asks Hardy to help her with wrestling. This is because she wants to go to the UK to earn and win back her house that her father had lost due to non-payment of a loan. An agent has assured her that she can be sent on a sports visa and hence, she wants to learn the basic techniques of a sport. Hardy teaches her wrestling. However, the agent usurps money from Manu, Balli Kakkad (Anil Grover), Buggu Lakhanpal (Vikram Kochhar), and others and runs away. With no other option, Manu, Balli, and Buggu approach Geetu Gulati (Boman Irani) for help. He runs an English-speaking institute and promises to help those trying to clear their IELTS exam. The trio along with Hardy enroll in his classes. Here, they meet Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal), and all five become close friends. They aim to reach the UK by hook or by crook. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Kanika Dhilon's story is superb and very relatable, especially for those from the South Asian diaspora. Many people from this belt have faced issues with immigration and hence, they’ll connect with the plot. Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, and Kanika Dhilon's screenplay is a mixed bag. While some moments are emotional and hilarious, the script overall could have been much better, especially when it's penned by Abhijat and Rajkumar. Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Kanika Dhilon's dialogues are witty at places but again, going by their previous work, the one-liners should have had far more punch.

Rajkumar Hirani's direction is simplistic. As always, he uses his laugh-cry-drama formula successfully. Hence, the film doesn’t ever get slow or boring. There’s no dull moment. The film starts in the present day and the way the dynamics are shown, one gets curious to know what must have happened with the characters. It also gives a déjà vu of the beginning of 3 IDIOTS [2009]. The scenes where Hardy and his team try to learn English and their visa interviews are worth watching. The intermission point is quite strong. In the second half, the scenes of Hardy in the UK court and the whole Saudi Arabia sequence turn out to be the best parts of the film. The ending is moving, and the stats mentioned are quite hard-hitting and depressing. Thankfully, the final scene is funny, and the film ends on a lighter note.

On the flipside, the writing is not up to the mark. The makers haven’t focused on the families and their sufferings. Viewers should feel that the characters had a strong reason to move to the UK. But this aspect was not properly touched upon. Secondly, the humorous scenes in the first half don’t bring the house down. The same applies to Manu’s fake marriage episode. And this was necessary as all previous works of Rajkumar Hirani wowed the audience. As a result, one can’t help but expect tremendously from his films. DUNKI is nowhere close to MUNNA BHAI, 3 IDIOTS, PK, etc, and hence, audiences will feel a bit dejected, despite the film’s strong points.

Speaking of performances, Shah Rukh Khan does well and brings alive the humour and emotions effectively. However, as an old man, he’s not quite convincing. Nevertheless, it’s heartening to see him shed his superstar aura and play a character role after witnessing him in massier avatars in PATHAAN and DUNKI. Taapsee Pannu is a revelation and delivers a smashing performance. She gets the nuances in the old-age scenes quite right. Vicky Kaushal rocks the show in a cameo. Anil Grover and Vikram Kochhar are lovely and lend able support. Boman Irani and Deven Bhojani (Puru Patel) are lovely. Others do well.

Pritam's music is not of chartbuster variety, but the songs are well-woven into the narrative. 'Lutt Putt Gaya' comes at a fine juncture and is pleasant. 'Main Tera Rasta Dekhunga' stands out. 'Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se', 'O Maahi' and 'Banda' are in sync with the film’s theme. Aman Pant's background score is appropriate.

Muraleedharan C K, Manush Nandan and Amit Roy's cinematography is breathtaking and gives the film a big-screen appeal. Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray's production design is authentic. Sham Kaushal's action is limited. Eka Lakhani's costumes are realistic and non-glamorous. Rajkumar Hirani's editing is slick.

On the whole, DUNKI bears the Rajkumar Hirani stamp of filmmaking with the right message and emotions as a backdrop. However, it is not as outstanding as his previous films as the writing plays spoilsport to a great extent. At the box office, it will turn out to be a mix bag.

[teafiend]

Oh, this was an unexpectedly nostalgic - and fun - show. I did not expect to go in and get a refresher course in “Pop Buddhism for Idiots”, nor the campy and breezy story. Neither did I anticipate the hilarity of watching Won Mi Ho (aka Lee Da Hee) run around screaming as demons chased after her in all her perfectly made up and fashioned stunning self, not one hair out of place.

It was funny, “unserious” and wacky. Just the kind of show I needed after a few heartbreaking and sobering crime/law procedural dramas.

It was far from perfect and made me laugh even when not intended, but as long as it did, I could care less whether it was fully intentioned or not. Not being a major fan of CGI or long action scenes, the less said about those on my part, the better. Overall, however, I think those aspects are acceptable for a show of this caliber.

Oh, I certainly did not expect another hot priest. Though this one is a bit too young to drool over, he is nonetheless extremely good looking and cute.

Kim Nam Gil, well, what else is there to say. ❤️‍🔥

The world-building is a somewhat interesting mish-mash of Korean shamanism, Catholic aesthetics, and “pop Buddhism”. Relatively predictable story/plot, but still had spots of surprising twists (mostly with regards to the Baeks), and moments of poignancy which I deeply appreciated.

It has been quite a while since I watched any show with an explicit world-building based on “folk Buddhism”, and that has been one of the main nostalgic factor. As was the affecting visage of Won Mi Ho in that ethereal white dress. She truly looked like “a fairy who has descended onto earth” and reminded me a lot of Joey Wang in her heyday of the “A Chinese Ghost Story”. I did not know exactly how Van felt but I was bowled over.

I know of Lee Da Hee from “I Hear Your Voice”, and always have a soft spot for her after her memorable role in that favourite of favourites. She was extremely entertaining here, with fantastic performances in many spots. She has truly grown more luminous the last time I watched her onscreen.

I completely enjoyed Won Mi Ho as a character, and given my obsession with The Guest and Kang Gil Young, just could not help but compare the two - in terms of stylistic/aesthetics choices between the shows - but not in any negative way. As much as I have enjoyed the more realistic, raw and gritty stylistic choices in TG (for KGY), I found myself marveling over the near flawlessness of Won Mi Ho here.

It was so entertaining to gawk at her clothes, the cars, the perfectly made up face, stylised hair etc. Won Mi Ho was fabulous in her chaebol-heir glory. (And few could carry the fashion choices like Lee Da Hee did in the show. What a body and posture ⭐️😍🤩). Also amazing as the selfless Saviour! (One dressed to the nines in couture fashion and high heels, what’s not to love? ⭐️😍🤩)

And I like her character a lot too. Lovely, adorable and easy to love!

The “almost-romance” (though it was basically full-blown romance in my estimation) was also extremely nostalgic and wonderfully moving. I am a sucker for romances of the chaste and yearning type, and they delivered here. 🥹 Roughly knowing how the ending was from lurking on socmed, I was prepared for the ending and was not too disappointed. Still, my poor babies. 😭

A show not to be taken too seriously, nor to have too high expectations of, it was overall an entertaining ride, and truly, I could not ask for more. Love it!

*Recalling the scene during the final showdown between Van and Gungtan when they were having their final “talk”, of Van’s words (paraphrased), “The only way to escape the Law of Causality is to cease to exist” made me chuckle/laugh a few times after the fact. That is basically one of the major pillars of Buddhist teachings, and he announced it as if he discovered that principle. It might be weird, but I found that assertion out of Van’s mouth hilarious.

*Won Jeong’s retelling of the parable of Angulimala was a very nice touch in the show, because I have always found that story illuminating and bittersweet, and it was indeed an important story of redemption and atonement in Buddhist lore. “Good job, show/writers!”

Edited on Sept 23, 2023:

*Read a comment describing this show as a hot mess, and won’t say I disagree, but I have enjoyed the mess, so I suppose there’s that. Especially since it felt true to what is simply a ‘fun webtoon’. There is literally little emotional core or narrative gravity to this show (or much of the original webtoon, I am arrogantly assuming) except a mix-and-match of tropes/lores, which veered from attempting to be angsty/dark to the cheesy and campy. So, I can see where the mess is. That said, the narrative was consistent and coherent, and the performers made me laugh, so I will give it credit where it is due, little as it was.

[eolewyn1010]

Dragging Frankenstein - Chapter 10

Time for some sweet, sweet confrontation! AKA the two nominal heroes of this story throwing themselves a mutual hissy fit.

More landscapes, which offer Victor “the greatest consolation”. Yeah, screw Elizabeth and the fam, I guess. For how nice the descriptions might be, Shelley indulges in her or her husband’s thesaurus syndrome again. “precipitous”? “sombre”? “perpendicularity”?? I got it, you had a dictionary.

Victor’s purple prose at how fugly the Creature is upon the latter’s arrival is annoying as always, but with him being like “come at me, bro!” the situation jumps headfirst into hilarious. Victor, my dude. You built him as a huge brute, and you just said he’s superhumanly fast. DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 8

Also, “do you dare approach me?” Well, you coward clearly didn’t dare approach him, now did you?

“Do you not fear the fierce vengeance of my arm?” … *cackles* Truly precious.

“…that I may trample you to dust” and so on and so forth, but he’s like, “go away or I could do something reeeaaaally mean” – it’s not like he has the balls to attack the Creature in earnest.

The Creature has inherited Victor’s thesaurus syndrome. Aw, he must be such a proud dad! And yeah, he’s neither of Victor’s blood nor of his upbringing, but the fact is, he only ever identifies himself in relation, and in opposite, to Victor.

“my joints more supple” … uhm, why did Victor want his creature to be extra bendy? I’m not gonna count it bc that’s just my mind going into the gutter, but methinks he’s out for some exotic positions.

“docile to my natural lord and king” -.- Whut. I got nothing. Sure, go and feed the DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 9

What reason could he possibly have to be submissive to Victor??

“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel” – ah, that’s where the better part of the Paradise Lost parallel starts. I do enjoy me a little bit religious imagery, and the Creature has more situational awareness about this than Victor. Well, less is hardly an option; Victor is not identifying himself as Lucifer here, hubris be damned. I’m tempted to call him Little Lucy tho.

“Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous”, “it is in your power to deliver them from an evil which it only remains for you to make so great” Awareness or not, he’s the same entitled little shit stain Victor is. I will only behave like a decent person if you do as I say.

“There can be no community between you and me.” Isn’t that why you made him tho? For a bit of community? This time, I have to. DAS GAY: 20

“Begone, or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must fall.” Still funny. DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 10

“Why do you call to my remembrance…” WEH-WEH-WEH, I DON’T WANNA BE REMINDED OF ANYTHING THAT’S MY FAULT! Is it obvious yet that I hate Victor?

Ok, the Creature just putting his hands on Victor’s face? This guy is funny. At least for now.

“For the first time also, I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were.” No, you never felt that in over two years. It had to be spelled out to you, twat.

And off we go. (to the sound of “Do you want to build a snowman?”) Do you want some exposition?

I sure hope you do, because exposition is what we'll get - for six goddamn chapters. As someone whose mother tongue isn't English, I gotta ask: Is the flowery language as bad for those for whom it is?

[scribbly-dee]

Inspired by this post

I adore corruption arcs, so I graded how well the non-archivist characters would have damned humanity if they had been the archivist.

Sasha James 11/10, would be an ideal archivist, this plus her height is probably why the stranger monster targeted her before she could peak

I have a soft spot for any au that knows Sasha has never seen a brain cell in her life and that any unhinged!Sasha au is really just a regular Sasha au. Picture it with me. Sasha and Jon have parallel archivist tracks, until Sasha (my beloved show off) decides: you know what would make me more efficient at snooping? Becoming a Human Google. And things accelerate. The Web doesn't even need to bother with subtly magic lighters, it slaps all 14 marks on her at once by pulling up next to Sasha in a windowless van with "free secrets 👍" written on the side.

After the Unknowing, Sasha takes over the institute from Elias instead of Martin and Peter. With Tim dead, Jon in a coma, Martin lonely-snatched, Melanie compulsively homicidal, Daisy in the coffin, and Basira on autopilot, she quickly bonds with Rosie, the ultimate nosiness enabler. Sasha is a fully marked archivist for a good long while, but doesn't start the apocalypse right away because she's eager to read ALL the ominous notes Elias left, so the watcher's crown statement is in her to-be-read pile. When the apocalypse starts (Rosie: "Hey, Sasha, I just read something extra fucked up that Elias wrote, wanna see?" Sasha: "God yes."), she books it to become the pupil with Rosie as her anchor. Mayhapse an anchor-archivist polycule with Archivist Jon and Martin? Mayhapse Jon is just a normal eye avatar here and deeply invested in all of Sasha's eyepocalypse statements, so it's Sasha and her plus-three? Mayhapse it's a race across the eyepocalypse wasteland between Archivist Sasha and Archivist Jon to usurp Jonah and become the pupil?

Tim Stoker 2/10 dude's here for a good time, not a long time

The only way I see this working is if Elias disguises not-stranger clues as circus related so Tim is motivated to investigate. Otherwise, his archival assistants are way more curious than him and disobey his direct orders to 🍹chill🏝. Jon, Sasha, and Martin inadvertently bring marks home to him like cats bring home dead birds. He asserts his agency when he decides the best course of action? Actually? Just blow up the archives. This unfortunately puts him in a false sense of security, and Elias makes him read the watcher's crown statement by cat fishing him on grindr and sending the ritual as a dm mid conversation.

Daisy Tonner - 9/10 archivist, would have started doomsday before she was at the archivist job long enough to use her PTO

Daisy already had a lot of experience hunting down fear-entity-related people in sectioned cases, which means she possibly canonically already has all the marks from just hunting avatars who use their powers in self defense. The reason she lost one point is because she's too much of a jock to read, only nerds are culpable to watcher crown statements, so this would be the only delay but oh what a delay it will be.

Melanie King - 7/10 archivist, points awarded for achieving her breakthroughs by smashing her head against a wall until she literally breaks through, points deducted for doing so in full clown makeup.

If Jon got a handful of marks by just asking anoying questions in the same room as an avatar, imagine how much faster Melanie would get marks by bringing her trademark Chaotic Brat personality on fear entity investigations. The apocalypse would have started in like two seasons: one season to hire her off the streets and establish shakey, complex relationships with her new assistants (Jon and Sasha put in the time with the institute but were passed over on this promotion for some random YouTuber (plus they're tighter with Tim and Martin, so proletarian solidarity against the boss)).

Then a second season to stab every mark and get stabbed in return. Melanie would blitz through all 14 marks because what precious little impulse control she starts with is slowly replaced with slaughter juice. One fun moral ambiguity to explore could be if Melanie tries to use her new, dangerous Eye/Slaughter powers to revive her reputation and platform in the supernatural community now that she can, ya know, identify supernatural things for the first time ever. Does she acknowledge her entire career up to her hospital episode apparently only investigated fake sightings? A better question to ask is whether Basira, Tim, and Jon ever let her live down how Ghost Hunt UK's professional dignity was contingent on the legitimacy of her sCiEnTiFiC gHoSt eQuIpMeNt in those episodes, so the temperature spikes set to dramatic music were well and truly just temperature spikes and dramatic music. Sasha found a clip of that music playing as Melanie narrates "it's a message... from the other side..." and made it as her text tone.

Also, it would be hilarious if Melanie tried to kill Jonah on sight in the panopticon, once again botched assassination attempt number 1,963,538, and then Jon quietly snuck in to finish the job on his first try just like in canon.

Jon: "What, like it's hard?"

Basira Hussain 3/10 archivist, her eye alignment manifests as office gossip, like a normal person

Basira has the most formidable super power of all: the power to nope tf out of any conversation or plan she wants. She therefore would probably take 10x longer to start the apocalypse than any other archivist because her fatal flaw is refusal to directly engage with a lot of personally difficult things (like the slaughter bullet surgery she organized, Daisy In General, etc). The marks will be slow going if she resists putting her safety on the line or invests time in making good plans (which is smart, but unhelpful for dooming humanity). She would for sure still get marked and end the world because once she's convinced of a plan (aka Elias convinces her of a plan), she's ruthlessly efficient. So I'd stay out of her way that last year or two, she marks the entities right back at them.

Martin Blackwood 2/10 archivist, considering a prerequisite for creepy eye avatar staring is the ability to make eye contact.

S1 Archivist Martin would probably dote too much on the employees under him to be hugely susceptible to Elias' isolation-dependant manipulation. Any progress Martin inadvertently achieves toward the watcher's crown goal would have to be contingent on it helping his loved ones, which is perfect fuel for a "corrupted by good intentions" arc. This would be key because Martin has superb bullshit and manipulation detection, making the marks are tricky but not impossible to orchistrate considering Jon can't stay put in a safe corner for 10 minutes and Martin's mother would refuse to stay with him where she's safe from avatar threats.

Imagine the petty drama when Jon and Sasha learn he got the promotion they wanted because he lied on his CV.

Other than that, Martin would be even worse about pit stops on the apocalypse road trip than Jon because his Kill Bill mode would have no off switch. Does Archivist!Martin and his anchor Jon ever reach the panopticon? Eventually, but not until after they lose points for significantly reducing the apocalypse fear quantity. Would Annabelle survive to deliver her cryptic MaCHiNAtIoNs and achieve the Web's goal? Hard No, additional point reduction for neutralizing the multiverse invasion. Points potentially earned back if Martin's Web connection is strong enough to come up with the multiverse invasion plan on his own, though.

Georgie Barker 4/10, as a fearless coward, all the fear she feeds to the entities would be khaki flavored. They'd get their apocalypse, but they probably wouldn't enjoy the meal.

Similar to Basira, Georgie has the super power to Fuck This Shit I'm Out. She would overall be a subpar humanity damning archivist; a major archivist success factor of Jon's is that he has enough affective empathy to be afraid with every statement giver he reads, so when Jon archives a statement, he unintentionally contributes to the fear soup seasoning. Combined with how Georgie doesn't want anything to do with entity drama, so any corruption specific to the watcher's crown would stagnate. Even her casual exposition conversations would go like

Georgie: "I've connected no dots."

Melanie: "you've connected a lot of dots??"

Georgie: "I've connected shit all dots."

The reason she gets one more point than Basira is because Georgie's fatal flaw is the passive observer quality the Eye tried to stoke in Jon. Her level of engagement oscillates between two extremes, impulsive over commitment and judging from a distance. This would probably lead her to geting involved just long enough for her involvement to become irreversible, at which point she would try to cut that shit out of her life after it's trapped her. She'd linger, barricading herself on the margins of this problem as the marks that are targeted at her slowly tally up until boom. Apocalypse is on and she only half understands what's happening.

Georgie would wander around an apocalypse hellscape confused, but vibes and physical health fully intact. Anchor!Melanie would have quite the emotional journey starting with Georgie on that pedestal Melanie placed her, and ending with a slaughter avatar stabbing the person who convinced her to work on her slaughter inclination.

[skania]

Replies to ONK Asks

Gathering everything in one place so it's easier to find! If you've sent me an anonymous ONK-related message this past week, the reply should be below the cut!

As always, thank you to everyone who dropped by to share their thoughts with me! ❤️

Seeing their dynamic animated will make it more hilarious than ever, I'm really looking forward to S2! 😂

Anon, I get the feeling there's been a misunderstanding here. When I said "most obvious", I didn't mean "best written and best for the story". I just meant "most predictable" lol

You bring up some really nice observations anon! In particular, I really like what you pointed out, that during the Baseball Catch date and the Brazilian BBQ date Aqua's feelings for Akane were discussed! It also makes for a nice show of their progression, because during the first one he dismisses his feelings for Akane while in the second he has come to develop enough feelings for her that he is considering falling for her altogether.

You're right that people do tend to interpret anything and everything Aqua does towards Kana as romantic. I think it's because it's what people have come to expect when it comes to dynamics with their tropes (light to the darkness, etc.), but I'm with you on the fact that they could easily be platonic.

I also agree with you on Aqua and Akane having a better developed relationship!

I'm so sorry anon, even leaving the rude people aside, the Twitter character limit is way too short for how much I type and the 4 image limit per tweet doesn't help either 😭 I may go for it one day though! If Aqua and do Akane happen, I'm 100% joining the Twitter fight to prove wrong the inevitable 'it's coming out of nowhere!' etc we're bound to get 😂

No? Where do people even get this stuff from? 😭

I LOVE Melt! Love him! But I have no thoughts about any potential ship between him and Kana, there isn't enough development there for me to form an opinion it lol

Ohhh I hadn't thought about that, you're right that Sarina idolized Ai in a similar way to baby!Akane's idolization of baby!Kana. I'm not sure I see other parallels between them though and here between us, I'm not very inclined to look for any because I think that the fact that Akane doesn't remind Aqua of Sarina or Ai or anyone else is a great thing. The less he projects on her, the better!

You know which parallels I did notice, though? Goro's presence brought Sarina salvation much in the same way Akane's did for Aqua. The wording used is the same in both, too! I'm keeping that thought in mind to follow it during a rainy day 😂

Exactly!! During my first read, I had pretty much no expectations for Aka's writing so I didn't really care about getting to the bottom of Aqua's psyche, I just found him boring. It was through rereading his scenes with Akane that I realized that the explanations the fandom kept feeding me didn't add-up, so I started thinking about Aqua's character more seriously and I liked what I found. Now here I am lol

I completely agree with you anon! I acknowledge that Aka is free to do whatever he wants with the manga and that sometimes, the better ship loses. Regardless, I still hope that he will deliver on the development he has given Aqua and Akane and grant us a satisfying ending, because it is the most developed Aqua ship and I'd love for something to come out of it. I'm glad you now think it's possible!

Clown behavior, I tell you! I'm praying Aqua will keep pulling stuff like this during the movie recording, it's so hilarious 😂

Thank you so much, anon!! I got you, it's a small flashback from Chapter 96!

They're adorable 😭 imagine all the moments they had during the year they dated for real

[anasticep]

Why Julie and the Phantoms is a masterpiece of a show. Part 2. Heroes and Villains or Let that foil shine

NOTE: Thanks again for your kind response to Part 1. I never expected that. It being my first tumblr post and a first meta in quite a long time I was blown away. I read all the tags, some were really hilarious. About having more than one brain cell xDDD I laughed so hard. It means a lot.

NOTE2: Please remember that the gifs are made by me, so don't crop, edit or give as yours.

Part 1.

Before diving into meta, I have to mention that the Villain of the story is actually one of the best in the decade. He’s cool, evil from the start, we understand his motives and we certainly are not supposed to love and make excuses for him. The writers made sure of that. So back to the main topic.

A foil is a character who contrasts with another character; typically, a character who contrasts with the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist

Foils in literature are not necessarily antagonists. A friend can be a foil or sometimes even a thing, a song. Whatever can make a good and real contrast to the protagonist. But it’s not very simple to use this author’s device and not fall down a deep hole. Because you have to make sure you did just the right amount of work to make it understandable for a reader, the things you want to contrast are definitely there and still you don't waste a character. On TV it can be even harder given limited air time. And, well, I don’t come across this device being used in full very often nowadays. It’s usually good and evil fighting for the plot. That’s why I personally appreciate JaTP so much.

Caleb is clearly a foil to Luke. As much as I’d love to say that Julie also has one, that’s not entirely true, at least not this season. Carrie is not her foil though it may seem so, and I really think that’s cool as Julie’s journey is being presented through her own demons and I'm going to cover that next. That being said, of course Caleb doubles as an antagonist plotwise, but I personally consider him being written more as a contract to Luke so we could see and appreciate his character and journey better.

1. Origins

Caleb and Luke have extremely similar backgrounds. They are both natural performers. They know how to deliver, because c’mon, “Now or Never” is something and so is “The other side of Hollywood”. Stage is their natural habitat, their element, power. Although they channel this power from completely different places.

Let’s start with our little ball of energy. It’s emphasized TWICE that he doesn’t care about the money aka the physical side of art.

All Luke wants is to make music. Connect with people. He is so happy just to be heard despite him loving to perform. Making music is what makes him feel alive and basically that’s enough. I think if there was no “hologram” magic at all, Luke would have still been extremely happy to make music with and for Julie. Because that’s the way he is.

But Caleb doesn’t know that. He knows, and I’m standing by that, right away that Luke is the one to aim at. Because we always feel the similarity in people. If Luke said yes, Reggie and Alex would have followed. So Caleb recognizes the passion and shoots at them what he thinks is appealing. And, oh boy, he delivers.

“The Other Side of Hollywood” is a perfect song to emphasize Luke and Caleb being foils for each other. Follow me here:

But these lines come from very different places. For Caleb the only thing that matters is himself. He owns the show, he IS the show. It’s about being famous, drowning in applause, admiration. Look at how he performs. Confident, yes, but still very much in control. He must keep his perfect face. No flaws, no real emotions, no real connection (Did you miss ME? I did too // This band is back). Whereas Luke is simply living the best time of his life each time he performs. Is it just jamming? Bring it on. Doing fun riffs? He’s all for it. He doesn’t care how he looks (though who could deny gorgeous sweaty Luke), he owns the show just because he is a natural.

So back to the business. Caleb immediately puts the boys in his own shoes:

On the other side we live like kings // Your soulprint on the walk of fame on the boulevard of your wildest dreams // I got your glamour, got your gold, got all you’ll ever need

And, I mean, he is not that wrong. You can see the appeal on the boys’ faces. They are young, passionate, handsome, talented musicians. Of course they wouldn’t deny fame. Of course they would want all that to some extent. And Caleb is very sure he pulled the right strings.

Watch me make a move, I’m your number one choice

Also I have to mention, as we are talking about TOSOH (IKEA name again) and it being a foil for Luke, thy lyrics still don’t forget about what is important for Reggie and Alex (we’ll talk about that just a bit later):

Welcome to the brotherhood -> Reggie

Where you won’t be misunderstood -> Alex

Then again, lots of foreshadowing in the song, if you listen carefully the lyrics are stressing the true colors of the offer:

A tomb with a view

Man, what a metaphor. I would have run out of there the minute I heard this line. But our boys share one brain cell (I can’t get over how funny this is) and it’s currently taken by Julie, so I don’t blame them.

Disappointment is huge. Caleb read it all wrong. So we are moving to the next point in our Heroes and Villains essay.

2. Recruitment

It’s very cool that Caleb offers the boys to join his band right after Luke offers Julie to join Sunset Curve. They both are going out of their ways to get that (although have different budgets apparently. But look, they live in a garage). Luke made a hit with a bunch of Julie’s not very well structured lines (I love Flying Solo with all my heart as a song, but as a poem it just looks weird to me) to impress her, and we all saw the show Caleb had thrown to impress the boys. Plus food. And fancy dancing. But here is where contrast comes again.

Caleb offers to join the band, yes, but only as backup singers. It’s his show, remember? It’s only about him. He doesn’t care if they are even good. He wants their magic under control.

Share the spotlight with ME / How do you like MY new band?!

Luke offering Julie a spot in the band is a completely different story. He saw what she is capable of. He instantly knows she must be the key to a new sound, a new level. And he, a natural performer, frontman, lead guitarist, steps back and gives the spotlight to Julie. To think about it, he could have just got her magic under control by giving her simple lines, incorporating piano in the songs and that’s all. They would be visible, he would still be a center of attention, and Julie herself wouldn't mind that much. But that’s not who Luke is. Yes, there is a funny scene of “Hey, I’m your lead singer” and “you don’t have to be mean”, but it’s just messing around. Because right after that he finishes Flying Solo, writes several other songs with Julie, seeks her approval of Sunset Curve songs and basically follows her around like an adorable excited puppy.

Moving on and back to the rejection. Again the writers are mirroring them. Julie quits the band & the boys decline the offer. What does Luke do? Well, he tries the way he knows: books a gig, makes Reggie and Alex sing in perfect harmonies and does his puppy eyes thing. And it doesn’t work. And Luke goes to reflect and then probably try to come up with a plan. But something tells me he would not have haunted Julie until she joined them.

What does Caleb do after the initial rejection? Puts a cursed stamp that leaves them no choice but to join HGC. You don’t need to say more.

But in fact the more I think about it, the more I suspect Caleb also not possessing enough mental capacity for a human being. Like, if it wasn’t for Willie, how would they even know? Has Caleb planned to simply show up one day and casually explain? Look, foils in everything.

“You’re in a tough spot… So, you wanna join the band?” | “Looked like it hurt… you know where to find me”

But we sidestepped a bit.

3. Pulling the strings

After the song Caleb comes out to consolidate his success. What he does is clever and, btw, that’s the only time he becomes Julie’s foil. They are stating basically the same thing.

Again, Julie is concerned about the band and the boys, while Caleb is only concerned about having them under control. But they both are pulling basically the right strings.

What is interesting, Caleb actually impressed the wrong person (and that person is our sweet Reggie). Luke follows the string Julie pulled. Although the offer is tempting, he insists twice that they are in a band already directly to Caleb and then in Eats&Beats he says "It's like Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound». No matter what Caleb promised, Luke is not affected at all although Caleb’s offer is a very-very safe choice.

Speaking about using friends as foils, Alex and Reggie also serve as contrast characters for Luke at some points. Luke’s indifference to money is first stressed through Alex who is clearly the chief accountant for the band. His lines about not getting tips, living in a garage and «it’s a little bit about the money» are waved aside by Luke. Reggie is clearly the most affected by the whole Bobbie thing. His lines «I don’t care what Julie said, I’m glad we scared Bobbie», «So we’re gonna forget about getting back at Trevor?» are getting a clear contrast by Luke’s «It’s what Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound» and «He has to live with that guilt».

While editing the article I realised a very cool thing I haven't noticed before. How badly Luke wants to go on tour. And again that's another thing Caleb offers as if reading his mind. That's actually brilliant, to think about it.

Caleb is a VERY good reader. He tests the waters with a speech about disappearing from stage and going around the world and all dreams coming true. Still he doesn’t know the boys and especially Luke, so his phrase “no real connection” doesn’t register that much.

But he learns. Remember the lines I’ve marked before?

Reggie is afraid they will not be together after they cross over. He is in desperate need of a family. So wouldn’t it be nice to spend the rest of your afterlife with your brothers? (Reggie's main insecurity is loneliness, feel of a broken family. That's why he is the most concerned about crossing over. Will his family stay intact?)

Alex is insecure, and not being understood by the people closest to him will always hit hard. So welcome to a place where you won’t be misunderstood. And actually we know there is a guy you like and find comfort in. (Alex's insecurity is growing up in times when he could not truly be himself even with his family and for sure not believing he would ever be able to find someone meant just for him)

That mirrors the whole Luke’s beach speech perfectly. Only comparing them we can truly appreciate why Luke is the leader. He shuts down his own demons to make Alex and Reggie remember that they are not alone (“and I believe in you”. sorry. Olicity fan).

Caleb makes them suffer to get what he wants. But this time he is careful with the words aimed at Luke. Yes, he repeats his words about vanishing and applauses BUT he makes sure that his words about CONNECTION are the key words for Luke. Intense look, calming voice, touching - these are all elements of hypnosis. And Luke is in a daze. (Continuing the parents' thing, for Luke the main insecurity is not managing to connect with his mom. Maybe that's such a big thing for him: through all these people he wanted to find that connection with her)

4. The Hero’s journey

That’s the best part actually but I won’t be saying anything new or that you don’t know. Luke is made of lyrics and music. That’s his soul, heart, that’s the feeling running through his veins. He doesn’t need anything other than that in his life. Playing for eternity is “a gift no musician would ever turn down”. But he actually does turn it down. As well as his dream to go see the world with his band (is there covid in jatp universe?). He is the one who resists the hardest to the pull. Luke, who always has a guitar in his hands, doesn't want to play. Because it’s not only about the music now. He has this amazing girl in his afterlife who was willing to accept them for who they were, helped Luke battle his own demons, eased his pain and made him open up. And it doesn’t make sense any longer without her anymore. “And you’re a part of me now till eternity”.

Caleb, being Luke’s foil, completely misses the whole point of connection. It’s not in his nature. His house band are just recruits (Just so happens you’re in luck we’ve got a vacancy). For Luke his band is his family (We are the only family we ever gonna need). The Connection theme is one of the main in the show. And it’s so cool to show it focused through Luke whose best way of interaction is a touch. But not being able to touch Julie Luke has to find other ways, although it’s not that simple for him. And Julie backs that up: We connect in so many other ways. They literally touched each other's souls. Without knowing she put a stamp of her own on Luke, Alex and Reggie. They’ve never felt loved enough, appreciated enough, supported enough. They’ve only had each other. And Julie’s stamp is love. And for Luke (as well as Reggie and Alex) from now on this girl is worth dying for all over again.

_______

So yeah. I hope you enjoyed it, as I for sure enjoyed writing. There is gonna be a part 3 about Julie and a few honorable mentions of parallels of the Pilot and the Finale (I hope at least to do all that). I’ve also figured very very cool connections in the songs and I can’t wait to share.

Also as I was heavily speaking about The Other side of Hollywood, @catty-words has a wonderful meta on rain metaphors here (sorry for tagging, if you don't want to be tagged), check it out if you somehow missed it. It's super clever.

[chalkrevelations]

So, Episode 7 of Word of Honor, and where to start? No, I’m kidding, I know exactly where I’m starting, which is with some recognition of what a great job this show does of developing 98 percent of its multitude of characters, because the first two things I’m going talk about this week aren’t even Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing OR Wen Kexing’s thirst (AKA, the three main characters of the show).

Well, I guess I’m really starting with the usual warning – this is a re-watch and so there are SPOILERS here, not only for this episode, but for most of the show. Scroll away and come back later if you’re trying to watch all 36.5 eps unspoiled.

SO, I mean, come on. Of course I’m starting with the Smartest Man in the World, who has finally shown up in this episode, and I’m reminded once again what an actual cinnamon roll, too good for this world, Cao Weining is. He’s maybe the single completely good character we meet  – even Chengling wants to burn down somebody’s house at one point because he’s mad. But Cao Weining is almost too good to be true – and yet, there he is! Living his best life, being good, eating good, falling in love, and refusing to let his beautiful, clever, fierce girl’s neuroses come between them. I love him, y’all. And not just because he instantly falls in love with A-Xiang when he happens to see her beat up a bunch of drunk bro assholes in the inn where he’s having a quiet little lunch by himself before she storms into his life like a purple whirlwind. But let’s do think about this from his perspective, yeah? And let’s remember it as we watch the progression of their relationship, as we wait for the revelation we know is coming, and as – many eps down the line – he learns the truth of her. Cao Weining’s first experience of A-Xiang is someone who’s brave and capable, who defies outsized odds to come to the rescue of those in need, who doesn’t allow women and girls to be abused, who expects proper behavior from the representatives of the jianghu, and who is absolutely fearless in demanding just treatment and never even thinks to be intimidated when she faces unfair censure from an authority figure. This is the girl WKX raised, y’all. This is a girl who embodies everything Cao Weining has been taught to believe in as a cultivator. And this is the girl Cao Weining sees every time he looks at A-Xiang. Maybe, just maybe, this is the truth of her, and Cao-dage sees and understands it from the very first time he spots her, and anything else he’ll learn about her is really extraneous. (Hmm. I wonder what other relationship we’ll eventually end up seeing that kind of dynamic in, where someone truly knows you and believes in you, so everything else is unimportant?) Also, Cao Weining tells A-Xiang she’s very beautiful, and how many people do you think have ever told her that before in her life? He asks why he would want to fight and hurt her, and how many people – particularly men, given where she grew up – have ever told her that before? He buys her lunch – twice, because the first round gets cold. Remember a few episodes back, when WKX asked her who the second cutest person in the world was, and she responded that it was someone who would buy her a meal? Well, here he is. For bonus points, it is hilarious how badly WKX responds to Cao Weining’s very existence after ZZS points out the pair of them having a toast at the same inn that WKX and ZZS have stopped in WKX has dogged ZZS’s footsteps into. Poor Cao Weining doesn’t even get the shovel talk – although to be fair, he doesn’t get the full-court Ghost Valley Master press, either, so WKX must have been holding back somewhat – he just gets told to get out, before WKX grabs A-Xiang by the ear and delivers some scathing commentary on her taste in men, like he didn’t immediately fall for some rando who was tits out, drinking himself to death in the gutter.

ANYWAY, from the Smartest Man in the World, we’re going to move to Han Ying, My Beloved, who we see interacting with the Five Lakes Alliance again, this time in the person of Gao Chong, leader of Yueyang Sect and host of the upcoming Heroes Conference, da-ge of the 5LA. I had honestly forgotten we got to see so much of Han Ying this early on. What strikes me here is that this is a guy who I actually could believe is the second-in-command of Tian Chuang at what is it? 21 years old? When he’s doing his job, and ZZS is nowhere around for him to make pining puppy-dog eyes at, he’s focused and determined and a bit forceful and somewhat threatening and, frankly, appropriately arrogant for the job he’s been sent to do. He’s also wearing a cloak with a mini-Collar of Evil. He comes off as, dare I say, a capable leader of an assassin organization and a guy who’s able to do a proxy flex for his boss without looking completely ridiculous - which puts him one up on Duang Pengju, omg that asshole, and also makes me feel a little better about how I want ZZS to wreck him (or I guess, technically, him to wreck ZZS, because I’ve never seen a character (except Marcus Flavius Aquila, THANK YOU for your service, Channing Tatum) who put off such subby service-top vibes. WHY is there not more Han Ying/ZZS on AO3, fandom? I thought better … worse? … better? … of you.) When Gao Chong claims the Glazed Armor is a myth, Han Ying basically calls this older, respected zongzhu a liar and gets up in his face before refusing a dinner invitation and sweeping out in his mini-Collar of Evil with a credible “PAH.” My boy has layers, y’all.

What else? We start out the ep at Luo Mansion, a wedding scene, and I’m struck by how the Ghost Valley colors match traditional wedding colors, here. I’m thinking about how A-Xiang’s wedding dress won’t be red (and I think green was more common during the Tang dynasty?) although all the decorations will be, and I’m thinking about how we have this wedding as a book-end to that wedding, and I’m thinking about how it’s interesting that a girl who was raised in the Ghost Valley and protected by the Department of the Unfaithful meets a man who’s going to be so faithful to her in the same episode as this wedding with/of the dead. Ghoul, who’s one of the attendees from the Ghost Valley, also remarks that the red makes him hungry, so there’s a meat reference to throw into the thematic basket, I guess. (Also, hey. Ghoul is played by the same guy who’s Sun Yongren in Killer & Healer.) Lovelace (ugh) briefly menaces one of the Department handmaidens before Luo Fumeng shows up, and I think she’s Yun Zai or Hong Lu, one of the two maids that A-Xiang rescued from him, although I’m not positive, because her hairstyle is so different and hides a lot of her face, here. So, we’re all attending the “wedding” of Mu Yunge, the apparent fuckboy who got got a couple of episodes ago as bait for Ao Laizi when Changing Ghost got his hands (briefly) on the Danyang Glazed Armor. We did see a brief scene with Yunge in the last ep, when he woke up tied up in bed, being menaced by someone who appeared to be his dead lover – who hanged herself while pregnant with their child – but turned out to be Beauty Ghost using a face-masking technique similar to ZZS’s disguises. In the interim, Ghost Valley has kidnapped 10 cultivators as his wedding party, and – this is the important plot point – that includes Deng Kuan, head disciple of Yueyang Sect. We get to see some of Beauty Ghost’s ruthlessness here, as she carries in the dead woman’s memorial tablet draped in a red cloth – how’s that for some foreshadowing (my f’kn HEART) – to set it down in the “bride’s” place before Yunge is forced to bow three times. (Dead girlfriend was a Mo from Broken Arrow Manor, and I … am not sure if that is significant or not. Is she possibly related to Mo Huaiyang? Does anyone know which sect is associated with Broken Arrow Manor?) Beauty Ghost also kills two of the 10 “guest” cultivators for talking without permission as she explains the next event to them – cage match. Only one of them gets to get out alive. Deng Kuan, the best of them, apparently, pleads with everyone to not let themselves be divided, but we can all guess how this is going to go. I guess maybe he’s the other completely good character we meet, but he sure is a punching bag. He ends up the last man, sort of, standing, as he kills the final other person in self-defense, but not before getting stabbed, and he goes down and is out for the count.

Meanwhile, cut to Zhao Jing and Shen Shen drinking and gossiping at an inn on the way to Yueyang. Shenshen – Shenshen – continues to bemoan Chengling’s uselessness, and also talks about the torture the other Zhang family members underwent just in time for Chengling to overhear in the hallway, so thanks a lot for even more trauma, Shenshen. Zhao Jing is so sad about it all, y’all. He’s just so very very sad, can we just stop talking about it, Shenshen, because you’re making him sad, and he’s just going to let Da-ge figure it all out, OK? Uh-huh.

Fourth plot thread of the episode is ZZS skulking around, following Chengling, trying to convince himself that this kid is safe now that he’s turned himself in to gone to live with the 5LA, even as ZZS spots Tian Chuang spies in the ranks of the Yueyang disciples and among the dumpling vendors on the streets outside. ZZS follows the dumpling vendor, gives him a code phrase and almost gets his head taken off by a Scorpion blade for his trouble, before stabbing Dumpling Man in response. WKX picks this exact moment to wander back into ZZS’s orbit, taking the chance to flirt as Dumpling Man spits up blood and dies in the alleyway, because of course he does. WKX tsks, accuses ZZS of being cruel, and quotes some poetry about fair faces and poisonous hearts, which - like all of his poetry - has a double meaning, because which of them is he really talking about, ZZS or himself? ZZS notes that WKX is openly wearing the (Danyang) Glazed Armor because of course he’s looking for trouble, but WKX loosens his stays and clutches his pearls and replies that he couldn’t possibly be looking for trouble – him? Philanthropist Wen? He’s not a merciless killer like ZZS. Whereupon ZZS finally says out loud what he’s been clearly thinking since he started going on about what an awful person he is in the LAST EPISODE, which is why the hell don’t you stop following me around, then? There’s some more flirting, and WKX continues to follow ZZS around, and ZZS takes note that WKX is obviously flaunting the Glazed Armor out in the open, and then there’s a little sleight of hand when Famous Pickpocket Fan Bu Zhi, oh noes! Steals WKX’s Glazed Armor right off his belt when he isn’t even looking! before WKX continues to follow ZZS around, conveniently into the same inn where Cao Weining and A-Xiang are having lunch. After WKX attempts to chase him away, we discover Cao Weining has had his wallet stolen. WKX deploys his Sadness Eyebrows to convince ZZS to turn over his wallet to pay for Cao Weining’s and A-Xiang’s lunch. ZZS – who does an admirable job of refusing for a bit – finally caves, and WKX orders lunch for everyone, on ZZS. Now all we need is Chengling, because the fam is not complete without Goldbean.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: WandaVision

I love Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch. I’m not sure how apparent that is, but just in general I love comic book characters who use magic, and Wanda is probably my favorite (or at least tied with DC’s Zatanna). Sadly, I never really felt like the MCU did her any justice. She debuted in the worst Avengers movie, her brother was killed before they could showcase a meaningful relationship, and then her next appearances had her speedrunning a relationship with Vision. She definitely got some great moments in Infinity War and Endgame, but she felt woefully underutilized. The same could be said of her boyfriend Vision, who had it even worse than her, because he gets killed in Infinity War and is basically forgotten about after that, with nary a mention in Endgame. These are two fantastic characters, and the MCU just didn’t handle them well at all, and they felt like a complete waste that it was really hard to care about.

Thank god for WandaVision.

This show really did something incredible. It made me care so much about two characters I wished I could have cared about before, and become incredibly invested in their relationship. Wanda and Vision get much-needed spotlight and character development and end up becoming two of the best and most fleshed-out characters in the whole franchise, and it’s amazing they waited so long to do this. Wouldn’t it have been better if we cared so much about them before?

The show has three core elements that help make it great: its characters, its themes, and its presentation. The characters are the big one; Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany really get their time to shine, and both of them manage to do great things with their characters, characters who until now felt more like background characters than actual Avengers. Their relationship is so cute, so wholesome, but with an undercurrent of something a bit sadder that ties in with the show’s themes, and then when they have children things become even more sweet with that dark undercurrent still running strong. Aside from them, the standout of the cast would have to be nosy neighbor Agnes played by Kathryn Hahn… or I should say, the show’s villain, Agatha Harkness, a magic-siphoning witch who’s exploiting Wanda’s fragile emotional state to gain the ultimate power. She’s an actual well-executed twist villain, which is quite a feat for modern Disney, and she’s just as fun and campy as you’d hope an evil witch would be, complete with her very own ridiculous villain song that has her winking at the camera and proudly gloating about killing puppies. It’s delightfully cartoonish. Other standouts include Evan Peters as ‘Pietro,’ in a hilarious and clever bit of meta casting that leads to a dick joke (which might be one of the funniest twists in the MCU) and the return of the greatest Ant-Man supporting character Jimmy Woo. Even Darcy, the absolute worst part of the first two Thor films, manages to return and be tolerable.

The presentation is a big selling point, and what helps the story feel so fresh and unique. Each episode is an affectionate take on a different decade’s sitcoms, starting really oldschool and eventually working all the way up to more modern fare. Interspersed throughout these episodes are some rather entertaining fake commercials which harken to elements of Wanda’s life, and a couple of later ones even act as some heavy foreshadowing for future revelations. The different camera techniques, colors, and whatnot really help sell this fantastical sitcom world Wanda created, though I have to say it is a bit of a shame they couldn’t integrate this style more into the climax, even if there are story reasons for it. It was just such a cool and fun concept, it’s a shame it had to be resolved before the climactic finale.

The themes, though, are what really make this show shine. This show is essentially about a woman dealing with grief. Wanda has lost the man she loves, she has lost her brother, and she’s struggling to find her way in the world. As a coping mechanism, she creates a fantasy world and refuses to face reality, burying her emotions and refusing to move on, instead clinging to the happy concepts that might have been. It really is fantastic as a character study of Wanda, giving her a remarkable amount of depth. I found myself relating to a lot of the themes on display; as someone with depression who has had my fair share of painful experiences, I could empathize with Wanda to a degree. Sure, the person I loved was never murdered by Thanos, but I’ve experienced with grief before. It’s really great stuff they’re working with here.

Unfortunately, as good as all these things are, the show isn’t 100% perfect. The biggest issue is when the show switches focus from the interesting stuff inside of Wanda’s sitcom world to more standard MCU stuff outside. Sure, it’s fun to hang out with Jimmy Woo, the greatest character ever, but a lot of the stuff out there just isn’t engaging and some things just aren’t really elaborated on too much. It’s certainly not awful, but between some really confusing twists with Monica Rambeau (who is a good character otherwise and one I want to see more of) and the extremely boring, 2/10 on Psycho Analysis villain Hayward, there’s really not much here that can even hope to compare to the events unfolding in Wanda’s life. The best things from the outside are flashbacks, such as when Monica returned from being snapped or when we get to see Wanda visiting Vision’s corpse in government lockup, which is one of the most tearjerking moments in the show.

There’s also how the swerve into the standard “Big Marvel action” isn’t exactly graceful. After a great episode where Agatha goes back through Wanda’s life, giving even more insight to Wanda as a character and showing us a lot of fascinating moments, we get into the grand finale which feels like what you’d see in a movie theater, for better or for worse. Now I’m a real slut for crazy witch duels between hot women, and this certainly delivers on that front, but there’s so much other crap going on and it really is weird to think how this show about a superhero woman learning to handle her grief somehow became a big, epic showdown that wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Potter film. I don’t hate this finale as much as some people do, but it definitely feels like the weakest episode overall (which isn’t too bad, since it’s still good, just not really what I would have liked to see).

WandaVision is the sort of thing I want to see more from the MCU going forward. It’s fresh, it’s interesting, it doesn’t take a standard route for the most part, and it utilizes characters who never got a fair shake in interesting and creative ways. Most importantly, it’s very weird and very comic booky, which is something the MCU was lacking for much of its first ten years (save for the films Gunn and Waititi made). I’m sure not everyone is going to find this to be their cup of tea, and it’s easy to grow bored of the cuts away from Wanda to the more cliché affairs outside of her sitcom bubble, but this is definitely a rich and rewarding show that engages with some heavier topics in an easy-to-digest and enjoyable way. Hopefully we’ll see more creativity like this going forward.

[letsperaltiago]

ok time to break my silence caused by the fact that i spent all day making this lol too many feels 

so.. palm springs thoughts !! and there are manyyyy so buckle up and feeel free to hit me up with either matching or contradicting thoughts or whateveer!! i would LOVE to nerd out about this movie with someone:’)

here comes thoughts and pictures!! 

we basically start off with a mr. samberg sex-scene okAYYYYY the mood is set. we love the view

nyles aka. mr. samberg is the most gorgeous man alive and it was a true pleasure to admire him for 90 minutes straight 

CURLS!!????! THEY ARE UNREAL. i shall dedicate an entire post to them

Cristin Milioti is perfect for her role. her acting? *chef’s kiss* I love that she’s not the stereotypical female rom-com lead.

Her chemistry with Andy? Gosh.. Can’t believe Nyles x Sarah is my new main movie-ship!! They play off of each other SO. WELL. Their characters are equally stone cold and bitter, but then again not really, and they both portray it so well!!

“You don’t ned a leg up.” *moans* “Hold my leg up!” i SCREAMED

“Don’t you kiss me.” “Don’t you tell me what to do.” hoW DARE THEY!

Ok ur basically on love already stop it

The fact that they were just gonna fuck on a blanket on top OF ROCKS?!

but then again in this movie’s already insane universe it’s prob pretty normal:)

The overall dark, existential humor?? This is what I live and breathe for on a daily basis. Basiaclly both main characters are a BIG MOOD

Nyles not giving a shit vs. Sarah severely freaking out in the beginning is an iconic dynamic

“I am the antichrist” and then the rock falling? For a hot sec I literally thought the movie was gonna take a turn with Nyles being some magical/scientific creature that’d created the timeloop or something idkkk ahhha

Nyles in the suit... ridiculous(ly hot)

The torture methods Roy uses on Nyles and the fact that he’s not mentally scarred?? How?? 

On that note I love that Nyles and Sarah keep their memories even if the day starts over. Would’ve been a completely different concept if they had to “meet each other for the first time” every day and it wouldn’t’ve allowed their relationship arc to evolve as it did 

Darla is the fucking shit 

Nyles in the baseball cap, amirite?

THE BARTENDER TALKING ABOUT HITTING A GUY WITH THE CAR SHE’S CURRENTLY GIVING NYLES A HANDJOB IN IS COMEDIC GOLD 

“You fucked Jerry Schlieffen?” “Well he fucked me.” Yes SIR. Andy Samberg’s characters are all bottoms and we’re here for it

Sarah’s tongue click and “nice try” when Nyles asks her about her sex life?? 

IDK WHY BUT SO GOD

Randy is hella annoying. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

THIS ENTIRE SCENE:

the fact that they both start waking up smiling because now at least they have each other 🥺😭🤯

uhm i love a good ship that’s like... best friends to lovers and the montage of them basically becoming besties killed me 

this outfit Y E S: 

sarah falling off the car and nyles laughing it off is relationship goals

the crashing plane I LOL’ED

okay so... big moment... the DANCING AND MATCHING OUTFITS? THEY ARE MY DREAM TEAM. Also how excited they are running away from the bar 🥺

IM POSITIVE THIS IS THE MOMENT NYLES KNOWS! LIKE HE DOESN’T ADMIT IT TO HIMSELF COMPLETELY BUT HE KNOWS 

the bomb in the cake and french pirate-skit? so fucking random but i lovee it because it’s so them

*DRUM ROLL* PERHAPS MY FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE: 

STORYLINE WISE AND VISUALLY A++++

the deep talks by the fire were SO well written. they were actually deep and genuine, allowing the characters to grow and opening up to us as viewers but also remained fun and witty

sarah trying to get nyles to admit he cares for her and him joking it off??? the flirtinggg

really wish we’d gotten to know more about what nyles meant with “it drifts away: just like they all do.” because it really seemed to trigger something within him. Like WHO “They”???

the dinosaurs lmao no comment but at least they got a cute cuddly moment

from the very first millisecond inside the tent you can CLEARLY tell Sarah is just dying to do something about them!!!

 the disbelief on nyles’ face when sarah says “lets just get it over with” because she’d clearly stated he didn’t want to and even though he obviously did he’s respected it and not done anything further about it oh babey

we love some good making out:’))) 

NYLES HALTING TO TAKE IN THE MOMENT EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO SCREAM INTO THE VOID 

i will die for a post-sexy timez cuddle and how sarah is trying to staying awake to be besides him is just *explosion* 

this has to be *the moment* she realises 

and they’re both sooooo fucking happy when they wake up after damn love me like that pls

THE GROOM BOOO FUCK OFF CAN’T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO REMEMBER HIS NAME CHEATING SCUM 

THIS FACE:

Baby is trying so hard and is so cute and nervous about it. SARAH LISTEN TO HIM HE LOVES YOU.

HE FELT GOOD WAKING UP BECAUSE OF YOUUUU, GIRL. DO NOT CALL IT “FUN”, SARAH 

“Going to bed maybe just got a little better” 😭😭😭😭

The entire cop scene is just pure insanity, very Lonely Island and I’m here for it even though I just want Sarah to rEALLY LISTEN TO WHAT NYLES IS TRYING TO SAY 

“Pain is real” oh babey that means SO MANY THINGS 🥺💔

“I followed you into that cave because I liked you!” like jake would say: don’t love how we got here but we’re going where i want

“pretentious sad boy” me

not shocked that they’ve hooked up before because c h e m i s t r y but don’t like how it got out :)))

why is nyles’ one sleeve shirt rolled up? im triggered

drinking pure vodka? oh babey its gonna be okay 

WE LOVE A SMART BOI WHO RECOGNIZES HIS GIRL’S PERFUME 

Sarah’s parents singing:)) i would cry too, nyles

"I love her.” “I see... That’s interesting” lmao savage

I actually really love Roy’s character. It turns out to be very humble actually and he has some insightful and lowkey poetic that lines i love. Besides that he’s hilarious. 

SO the whole time i was wondering how they’d get out of the whole “same day forever”-thing, if they were to. and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they had such a logical way out of it: science. Not anything cheesy like “a true love’s kiss” or “you learned your lesson”. Pure logic and Sarah’s hard work to get there. Huge fan of this. 

I will never get over how good Nyles looks waking up and Sarah is xtra pretty in that scene:’) 

Nyles just wants to stay in a loop forever because it means for sure that he gets to stay with Sarah forever and I’m lowkey into it but also like lowkey LISTEN TO HER AND GO WITH HER PLAN, NYLES

“I wanna stay with you” *sniffles*

“I love you. How about that?” PRETTY FUCKING GOOD 

I love Nyles’ character development. He started off so nonchalant and cold, closed off and by this point he’s the softest, smiliest in love fool I’ve ever seen and Andy does it so good. SAMBERG HEART EYES!!

“Nothing is real in here” YES SARAH UR LOVE IS

I’m taking Sarah’s asking Nyles to believe in her and leave with her as her first “I love you” because it’s very clear that she wants to leave with him rather than without. 

just- this entire scene i ugh <3 <3 <3 <3

BREAKING. UP. WITH. MISTY ! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

glass of wine filled to the brim? sarah’s my type of gal

the speech was really beautiful and sweet without being too cheesy and kudos to cristin for really delivering it like a pro! especially her “abe, don’t fuck this up” like yes girl kill him, chop him to pieces with your eyes!!! also camila is such really pretty bride

nyles looks like a cockatoo here :

nyles taking the shot and smashing the glass into the ground got me 🤭😵😏🥵

“I’m your son” I SCREAM

GIVE THE MAN A WHITE HORSE DAMNIT

Gotta admit Sarah looks like a bomb (lol nu pun intended) ass super hero in her bridesmaid dress and C4-gettup 

The sentence ending up being total grammatical gibberish but Nyles trying so. damn. hard is the sweetest thing ever and should and will go down in rom-com history. It’s super romantic but also well-balanced by humor and I just.. so good. This is the kind of characters and relationships I love and wanna write myself 

“you’re my favorite person that i’ve ever met” 🥺🥺🥺

“i’d rather die with you than live in this world without you” WHY AM I SO SINGLE SOMEONE LOVEE ME LIKE THIS 

okay so idk but “what if we get sick of each other?” “we’re already sick of each other. it’s the best.” is so so so soft, the way nyles says it like it doesn’t matter and is honestly another key moment for me: they’ve experienced basically everything imaginable during their time in the box/loop. they’ve liked, disliked, loved, hated each other and still: he loves her. the fact that nyles knows no matter what happens it won’t stop that because it’s them?? ouch my heart. 

this chaotic mess of a pairing?MESSY BOMB BRIDESMAID AND CURLY-HAIR HAWAII SHIRT-BOI!! MY OTp

Them dissing Nyles’ mom on their way into potential death? that’s love, baby 

the fUCKING KISSSSSSS MANNNNNNNNNN!!!! SO ICONIC AND THE EXPLOSION IN THE BACKGROUND AND JUST WE DESERVE THIS THEY DESERVE THIS EVERYONE DESERVES THISSSS!!! 

NEVER OVEER THIS EVER FOREVER NEVER

Ok so I was SURE that when it faded to black that it was done and I grew super ficking frustrated because it would leave us with this “the ending is up to whatever you chose”-kinda thing kinda a la Celeste and Jesse where it just feels unresolved and I WASN’T OKAY WITH THAT. So I’m so happy we got to know that it worked and the bebes will live happuilly ever after with Nyles’ shaggy dog:’) 

Their hands on each other’s knee >>>>>

all in all 100000/10 

[recentanimenews]

RECS: 5 Beginner Mecha Anime Fans Of Giant Robots Should Check Out

  Mecha is possibly the most influential anime genre of all time. Mecha’s influence can be felt not only in anime and manga, but also in tokusatsu (live-action with heavy special effects), videogames, and even Hollywood (with the likes of Pacific Rim and Edge of Tomorrow). Many older anime fans got into the medium through classic mecha shows like Macross or Go Lion (aka Voltron). While some may say the genre is past its prime, mecha shows continue to enjoy popularity even today, as the recent SSSS.GRIDMAN franchise can testify. 

  Most anime fans have watched at least one mecha anime, but few explore the genre fully outside of household names like Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. With such a long and decorated history, it's easy to become daunted by the sheer volume of shows (and their length). Fear not, however, for that is where we come in. Here is a small selection of shows to help get you into the genre. Once you’re done with these, you'll be a mecha nut just like me. Even if you’re already one, you’ll no doubt have fun watching or rewatching these titles. Let’s get started!

  Mobile Suit Gundam

    Is there any better place to start than with the grandparent of most modern mecha anime? 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam not only kickstarted the massive Gundam franchise but is also credited with creating an entire new genre of mecha: the “real robot” genre — characterized by an emphasis on technological realism and groundedness as opposed to the quasi-magical “super robot” genre. 

  In a future where most of humanity has moved to space, a breakaway entity called the Principality of Zeon declares war on the Earth Federation, gaining the upper hand thanks to their terrifying giant robots called “mobile suits.” Caught in the middle of this conflict, young Amuro Ray must pilot the Earth Federation’s own mobile suit, the Gundam, and face his greatest rival, Char Aznable. Mobile Suit Gundam has aged remarkably well and serves as a fantastic introduction to the mecha genre.

  MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM THE ORIGIN Advent of the Red Comet

    So you want to get into Gundam, but you don’t want to commit to 43 episodes just yet? Then I have the perfect anime for you! Adapted from Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s manga of the same name, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM THE ORIGIN Advent of the Red Comet is a short retelling of events from the original Mobile Suit Gundam, but from the perspective of Char Aznable, the main antagonist of the original series.

  If you like Char-ismatic Char-acters, this is the series for you. There is no one in Gundam history more iconic than Char, and this series shows the beginnings of one of anime’s most complex and flawed characters. If Char’s story doesn’t grab you, the movie-quality production values most certainly will. I can guarantee you’ll be interested in checking out the rest of the Gundam universe by the end of this.

  Full Metal Panic!

    Perhaps outer space is not for you? Perhaps you’d like something a little more grounded? Mecha has got you covered in that department as well. Full Metal Panic! follows the misadventures of Sousuke Sagara, a sergeant working for a private military organization, in his quest to protect a seemingly ordinary Japanese high-school student, Kaname Chidori.

  Comedy, romance, mystery, mecha action — Full Metal Panic! has got it all. Much of the humor revolves around the military nutcase Sagara trying (and failing miserably) to blend in with the high school setting. He is absolutely hilarious, and his dynamic with Chidori is fun to watch. The mecha designs are more on the militaristic side, and the battles are surprisingly believable. Watch Full Metal Panic! and its sequels for one of the most varied experiences you can get from a mecha show.

  86 EIGHTY-SIX

    Are you looking for something even more grounded? Enter 86 EIGHTY-SIX. Gone are the humanoid robots that dominate most of the mecha genre. The mecha of 86 EIGHTY-SIX are more practical and insectile in nature, not unlike the spider tanks of Ghost in the Shell fame. The conflict is gritty and not glorified at all, and the story doesn’t pull any punches with its subject material.

  The Republic of San Magnolia fights a war with its neighbors with the help of a drone army. They report zero casualties, because these drones are all unmanned, of course. Or are they? The reality may shock you to the core. 86 EIGHTY-SIX  is a tale of persevering in the face of oppression, injustice, and war. With more episodes yet to air, who knows where the story will go next?

  Planet With

    How about we go the other way entirely? How about a zany, ridiculous, over-the-top mecha experience? From Satoshi Mizukami — the mind behind Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Spirit Circle — comes Planet With, the story of an amnesiac boy who pilots a mecha — which is also his cat — and fights the seven superheroes of his town with the help of a gothic lolita maid. Just your everyday premise.

  Mizukami’s characteristic weirdness is on display as he delivers an experience that is equal parts FLCL and Gurren Lagann. It's easy to get lost among all the surrealness — your head will no doubt be filled with more questions than answers. Why does he live with an oversized cat?. But the core of the series is its cast: the way it explores them and the way they bounce off of each other. At a mere 12 episodes, Planet With is one of the most tightly crafted mecha experiences in recent times, and a good one at that. Don’t miss out on this underrated gem.

  With over 50 years of history, it is unlikely that one will run out of mecha anime to watch. For shows may come and shows may go, but giant robots are forever.

  What's your favorite mecha anime? Let us know in the comments below.

    Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

  By: Manas B. Sharma